In the Los Angeles Times on July 5 there is a report, “The O.C. Tollway needs to refinance debt,” which is about the tollway going deeper into debt to avoid bankruptcy. The state Treasurer is backing the $2.2 billion new bond sale to avoid a possible default on its current bond payments, since the toll road has not lived up to ridership projections. Many predicted this right from the beginning.

I believe the village entrance parking structure will not be sufficiently revenue-generating and the city of Laguna Beach will be forced to ask for more revenue bonds, just like the OC Tollway, digging our community even deeper into debt to avoid bankruptcy. With no money set aside for maintenance and operating expenses, this parking structure will become just a bottomless pit of endless funding….frightening.

Nobody would buy the village entrance project with their own money. $15 million down payment, plus $2.1 million dollars per year for 25 years. What you get is $300,000 projected gross income (no expenses considered) annually. Don’t let Pollyanna financing distract you from the bottom line. The taxpayers will be left holding the bag and we will have to bail out the village entrance project. If we, the taxpayers, will be taking the risk we need to have our say.